LOWER GAS PRICES FOR THANKSGIVING – AT 12:31 P.M. ET:   This will probably help the Democrats, but it's a pleasant development anyway.  Lower gas prices for the holidays.  From CNN:

Driving over the river and through the woods will be quite a bit cheaper this Thanksgiving, thanks to rapidly falling gas prices.

The average price of a gallon of regular gas is $2.13 according to AAA, down 75 cents from a year ago. That decline means consumers will save about $7 billion on gas during the 37-day period between now and Christmas, or about $40 a driver.

And prices are expected to keep falling.

Gas is already below $2 a gallon at 44% of stations nationwide, according to Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at both GasBuddy and the Oil Price Information Service, which tracks prices for AAA. Prices are below $1.59 a gallon in states such as Ohio, Texas and Oklahoma, according to GasBuddy.com.

Kloza expects most stations in the U.S. will be below $2 by the weekend, and that the national average will break the $2 mark by Christmas or early January. The average price of gas hasn't been that cheap since 2009.

Oil prices fell below $40 a barrel for the first time since August on Wednesday, and are near a six-year low. The slide has been caused by a glut of oil thanks to record U.S. production, sluggish demand in Asia and Europe due to economic weakness, as well as a strong dollar.

COMMENT:  There's a downside to this, besides the help it will give to Dems in the campaign.  Low prices mean less funding available to oil companies for new exploration and development.  We hope this nation will be energy-independent by 2020, but that goal can be set back if oil production is cut because of low revenues.

November 22, 2015